Chapter 38  : The Mysterious Fruit

The full moon hung high in the night sky as Ye Chen walked out of his house secretly. He climbed up the mountain behind the community area. He lifted his head and gazed at the full moon above his head as a strange gleam flashed in his eyes.

Subsequently, he picked a place to sit with his legs crossed. He performed a series of hand seals and cultivated the Circulating Treasure Immortal Art quietly.

A tiny dark green bottle appeared in his hand as he thought to himself. The bottle was as clear as jade and was the size of a baby’s palm. There were birds, beasts, insects, and fishes carved all over it, but there was no cover.

Ye Chen looked at it in silence with a hint of reminiscence on his face. He mumbled to himself, “We meet again, old buddy!”

It was the Immortal Drift Bottle. Ye Chen had obtained it when he was tossed into the river back then. This bottle was the reason he managed to travel to the cultivation world. He used it to achieve the ability to refine spiritual elixirs. It was also how he managed to cultivate to become an Immortal within a short 3,000 years and eventually become the Heavenly Emperor.

Throughout the 3,000 years, Ye Chen did not manage to figure the bottle out. He had no idea what kind of material it was made of or if it had other abilities.

Under the moonlight, the entire Immortal Drift Bottle was trembling lightly. Subsequently, a weak green light shone out of it.

Ye Chen had the same expression as he seemed to have gotten used to that. After the green light faded, he took out a wrinkled, black blotch that was the size of a walnut. He had obtained it at the Jiulong Antique Street earlier. He even caused a stir in the Immortal Drift Bottle back then.

The reason why he was only studying now was that the Immortal Drift Bottle would not produce the mysterious green liquid unless there was a full moon.

After a short while of pondering, Ye Chen put it on fertile soil immediately. He then picked up the Immortal Drift Bottle and poured it out softly. A drop of thick, green liquid dripped out of the bottle, eventually landing on the black blotch.

As soon as the green liquid dripped onto the black blotch, it vanished within the blink of an eye. It seemed to have been absorbed.

Crack…

Ye Chen stared at the black blotch while holding his breath. The black blotch swayed a few times on the soil, followed by a light commotion. It began shedding its shell as the black layer outside cracked.

Something that was similar to a tentacle extended out of the shell slowly. It was stretching, growing longer and longer. Eventually, countless tentacles branched out when it grew to over three feet. The tentacles then turned into branches and leaves one after another.

Within a few breaths, the black blotch turned into a tiny tree. The bark was smaller than the mouth of the bowl, but it was lush.

Later on, a black flower blossomed from the tree. It was growing, it stopped growing until it was the size of a fist. A mesmerizing foreign fragrance wafted from it.

What flower was that? It was extremely fragrant!

Even Ye Chen, who had seen at least 10,000 spiritual items in his past life, could not recognize what it was.

Entranced by the foreign fragrance, he was shocked to find out that the spiritual power in his body began rotating at an accelerated rate. Meanwhile, insanely dense weeds began growing from the barren land below his feet.

Ye Chen dared not hesitate. He sat with his legs crossed immediately to cultivate the Emperor Scripture while absorbing the foreign fragrance as much as he could. At the same time, his cultivation level was rising rapidly. It rose from peak beginner-stage Spirit Assembly to intermediate-stage Spirit Assembly and then peak intermediate-stage Spirit Assembly.

Just as he was going to break through all the way to mastery-stage Spirit Assembly and even paramount-stage or Foundation Building, the foreign fragrance disappeared.

He opened his eyes to look immediately. He realized that the black flower had wilted and was replaced by something that was similar to a black fruit. It was not round or oval. Instead, it was the shape of a cylinder, resembling a rolling pin…

What exactly was that?

He hesitated for a moment, then he dripped a drop of the mysterious green liquid from the Immortal Drift Bottle onto the tiny tree. However, the tiny tree remained unchanged. Eventually, he dripped the last drop of the mysterious green liquid onto it, but still, nothing changed.

Ye Chen was a little annoyed now. He sat next to it directly while staring at it without blinking. He was waiting for it to ripen. However, the black fruit had no sign of turning ripe at all as he waited until day broke.

All he could do was set up a formation around it before he left, looking disappointed. He secretly made up his mind that he would move it into the villa that Lin Tai gave him when he had the time.

…

To avoid Ou Lan from bombarding him with questions about healing, Ye Chen thought he would get his mother to bring Mengmeng to school. Meanwhile, he headed to the office.

As soon as he arrived, he realized that everyone was there. All of them were chatting and smiling as they surrounded Ye Wen’s table, discussing her birthday party.

Liu Feng sat next to Ye Wen. He could not stop talking about which restaurant they would go to after work as well as which karaoke outlet to go while Zhao Qian, Zhang Li, and the rest cheered occasionally.

All of them stopped talking when they saw Ye Chen. Liu Feng said while raising his brows, “Ye Chen, it’s Wenwen’s birthday today. I hope you remember her gift.”

Ye Wen peered at him by instinct.

Ye Chen nodded and sat at his seat without saying a word. He was still trying to figure out the black fruit in his head.

Liu Feng looked at Zhao Qian and the rest upon seeing him like that. He scoffed, thinking that Ye Chen had forgotten the gift or was too embarrassed to speak as the gift was subpar.

Noticing that it was time for work, they went back to their seats one after another and began goofing around. Their minds were occupied with the excitement of going to the restaurant and karaoke later.

After they finally pulled through working hours, they rushed out when it was time to leave.

Ye Chen stood up and walked to Ye Wen. He handed the bracelet that he had prepared for her. He said while smiling, “I won’t be going to the party. Happy birthday.”

Just when he was done speaking, Liu Feng snatched the bracelet away from his hand. “Let’s see what you got for our Wenwen.”

Ye Chen frowned. The rest of them turned around and looked at the bracelet in Liu Feng’s hand with their eyes wide open. They were very curious.

They gasped when they saw that there was no box for the bracelet which was oddly crude and was even tied together with a mere rubber hand. They looked at Ye Chen in disdain and judgment.

How was that a birthday gift?

Liu Feng pointed at the bracelet and struggled through his words as he laughed, “Ye Chen, so t-this is…the b-birthday gift that you got Wenwen?”

Ye Wen took a glance at the bracelet and glanced at the people who could not stop laughing. She looked extremely horrified.

“Ye Chen, don’t tell me you got this from some flea market!” Zhao Qian laughed so hard that her chest was undulating.

Zhang Li said with disdain on her face, “You’re being too kind to say that he got it from a flea market. I’m guessing he picked it up from a trash can.”

“I made it myself,” Ye Chen said calmly.

As soon as he spoke, laughter exploded among the crowd again. Liu Feng said in an exaggerated way on purpose, “Ye Chen, this isn’t right. Wenwen only celebrates her birthday once a year and this is all you got her? Don’t tell me that you’re unwilling to pay 80 to 100 yuan for her gift?”

“This is priceless.” Ye Chen shook his head. He was being genuine. After all, that bracelet was a protective magic tool. If Ye Wen encountered any danger, it could block six crises for her. It might even be sold at an insanely high price if he were to auction it.

If not for Second Uncle, Ye Chen would have been unwilling to give it to her.

Zhou Kai could not help but chuckle out loud. “Forget it. Nobody will want it even if you toss this piece of crap on the ground. I can’t believe that you said it’s priceless. Your skin sure is ridiculously thick.”

Liu Feng handed the bracelet to Ye Wen and said with a sarcastic smile, “Take it, Wenwen. Your cousin, who’s related by blood, made it after all. They say it’s the heart that counts, doesn’t it?”

Ye Wen snatched the bracelet and ran away immediately. She wiped her tears as she fled. ‘What do you mean by this? I wouldn’t mind even if you didn’t get me anything! How dare you give me a piece of crap?! Are you trying to humiliate me? Are you intentionally humiliating me before everybody?’